Brandy is a distilled spirit made from virtually any fermented fruit or starchy vegetable.…

Method

Mix together the dried fruit, ginger, orange zest and juice, and Guinness in a bowl. Cover and leave to soak overnight.

Grease 2 x 1.2-litre pudding basins. Boil a kettle of water. To prepare your steamers, put a snug-fitting upturned bowl or plate in the base of 2 large, deep saucepans, big enough to hold your pudding basins. Add the remaining ingredients (except brandy) to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Divide between your prepared basins and cover with buttered baking parchment and a foil lid. Tie with string to secure and make a handle for easy lifting.

Stand the puddings on the upturned bowls or plates in your saucepans. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basins, cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 6 hrs, topping up with water if necessary. If your lids start to rattle as the puddings cook, place a couple of heavy cans on top to hold them down. Once cooked, the puddings can mature for up to 1 year in a cool dark place, so if you only eat one this year, that’s fine.

To serve, reheat in a steamer for 1 hr until piping hot all the way through. Flame with brandy, if you like, as you bring it to the table.

Recipe Tip

Stir-up sunday

Get ahead for Christmas by making this pudding on Stir-up Sunday. It's the last Sunday before
Advent, is the traditional start of the
Christmas season, and falls on 25 Nov
in 2012. It is thought that the name
originated from the collect for the
day from the Book of Common Prayer,
which begins: ‘Stir up, we beseech
thee, O Lord…’ and unintentionally
reminds churchgoers that it’s time
to make the Christmas pudding!

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Comments, questions and tips

Delicious! Very dark and treacley. Stem ginger gives it a bit of bite. Texture is superbly light given how dark and flavoursome the pud is. I halved the recipe as only wanted one pud, but ended up with a bit of extra which made a wee one that we had today to test in advance of the main event (just to make sure...). Wish I'd made more now. :D Not sure that I will ever make a different pudding again....

wodiddilyhoo

16th Nov, 2014

5.05

Very tasty pudding and went down a treat. People were surprised by how light it was as it is quite dark in colour

patriciaf

24th Jan, 2013

5.05

Loved them will definitely make again and I like angie will add more ginger. I will also leave out the nuts. I made one larger pudding and six small ones. Re heat well in the microwave.

yamgma

8th Jan, 2013

5.05

This is the best Christmas pudding recipe and I've tried a few. Holds together beautifully, is moist and very tasty. Excellent. I made one larger pudding and 4 little ones.

sllyst

5th Jan, 2013

This was really easy to make but was very mild tasting, i would add more spice next time, had it with lots of brandy sauce to give it some flavour but it was still very popular.

angiebutler

28th Dec, 2012

5.05

This is the first time I've made Christmas pudding, or any steamed pudding for that matter. It was really easy to make and absolutely delicious. I would have liked to be able to taste the ginger more so will add a bit more next time and maybe cut it up less finely. This recipe will definitely be making a come back year after year.

el__be

2nd Dec, 2012

Does anyone know how long this should be cooked for if you are laking a 1lb pudding or a 190ml ones?

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